I found a fun little chart on adage earlier today that had a breakdown of what has influenced people into where to shop this holiday season.
Topping off the list by a huge margin is coupons at 45%. Obviously shopping for discounts is a huge part of every holiday season and even more so this year given the state of our economy.
Tying with word of mouth at 27% are advertising inserts. So one of the most simple and relatively cheap methods of advertising is pulling in the most customers.
Broadcast TV is next up at 23%. While not the biggest number 23% is nothing to scoff at. I would still say that it is worth the advertising dollars.
Newspaper ads next at 22%. This one is very interesting and probably something newspapers should be happy about. The platform thought to be dying off is actually pulling more customers to retailers than most other advertising methods. With this in mind newspaper advertising seems like a good buy for the price.
Following closely behind is direct mail at 21%. These numbers are all sorts of crazy. Direct mail is about large reach with a very low return rate. But this chart tells it all different, 21% of the people interviewed were actually swayed by the direct mail. Amazing.
E-mail advertising is also shockingly high on this list 16%. I’m so used to deleting everything I get, I guess I didn’t realize how many people actually read that stuff.
Cable TV spots are sitting at a rocky 12%. Considering the cost of TV spots compared to others on this list one may wonder if it’s even worth it. When you really think about it though, should one really give up that 12%? Even if lower than rest it’s still a substantial number.
Magazines and Internet ads are both sitting at 11%. This is not the best thing for magazines as they are the MUCH more expensive cousins to the newspaper ad and they have HALF the response rate (in this survey). Has everything been turned upside down by the economy?
And lastly on the list is radio at 10%… finally something that makes sense. I’m not even entirely sure what to say. This information is contradictory to much that I have been learning in school.